112 HOME AND GAKDEN 



were moving panoramas, of which the most successful 

 was a journey in the Arctic regions, of which sub- 

 ject the chief artist was a friend who had lately taken 

 part in one of the Franklin search expeditions. 



So it was that the workshop was a kind of heaven 

 of varied delights after the fixed restraints of the 

 schoohoom hours, and indeed its many lessons were 

 by no means an unworthy part of a child's education, 

 for an early acquaintance with tools and materials and 

 mechanism is a valuable possession in any one's life, 

 making clear and therefore interesting so many 

 matters that would otherwise be passed by unknown 

 and unnoticed. And there is a distinct comfort in 

 having a certain familiarity with the parts of an 

 engine and their names and uses, so that one thinks 

 with as little confusion and ambiguity of furnace and 

 boiler, of cylinder, crank, and piston, as of the head, 

 arms, and legs that belong to a body. 



And so in later years none of the lessons of the 

 workshop have been lost ; indeed everything there 

 learnt has been helpful both to direct practice and 

 as a stepping-stone to further experience. The mere 

 fact of having got over the early awkwardness of 

 using a tool is a considerable gain ; an awkwardness 

 whose degree a right-handed worker can hardly 

 appreciate till he takes the tool in the left hand ; or 

 let any handy needlewoman try how it feels to work 

 with needle and thimble in the left. And as I think 

 that a shred of my father's mantle may have fallen 



